MARINE Le Pen has slammed Francois Hollande’s denouncement of populism and nationalism, claiming Brexit and Donald Trump’s US Presidential election win presents France with the opportunity to make a “commitment to return [sovereignty] to the people”.

Le Pen has laid into Hollande, claiming his decision not to stand for reelection is a 'relief'

French president Hollande –France’s most unpopular president since the Second World War with an approval rating of just 13 per cent – used his New Year’s Eve address to urge France to think carefully about the country’s future when casting their vote in the general election later this year.

He said: “There are periods in history when everything may change dramatically. We’re in one of those times.

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Like many other political figures, [Hollande] completely renounces the restoration of democracy and independence which is so ardently the wish of the French people

Marine Le Pen

“In five months you will make a choice… France is open to the world, it is European, it is fraternal.

“How can we imagine our country huddled behind walls, reduced to its only domestic market, returning to its national currency and in addition, discriminating against its children according to their origins?”

He added: “It would no longer be France!”

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Hollande made his live TV address from Paris on Saturday

Responding to Hollande’s address, Le Pen slammed the president’s words and described his impending departure from the French presidency as a “relief”.

She said: “Like many other political figures, [Hollande] completely renounces the restoration of democracy and independence which is so ardently the wish of the French people.

Things you didn't know about Marine Le Pen

Fri, May 5, 2017

Marine Le Pen is a French politician who is the president of the National Front, a national-conservative political party in France and one of its main political forces.

Described as more democratic and republican than her nationalist father, she has led a movement of "de-demonization of the Front National" to detoxify it and soften its image

“These last words of the year offer at least a relief - we know that next year we will not have to undergo such a slew of platitudes and statements in total mismatch with the reality of the country and the sufferings of the French.”

The National Front leader added: “To speak of isolation for a project that is, on the contrary, in the sense of history, after Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, a return of peoples’ global aspiration for independence, is a manifest misunderstanding of the evolution of the world and of the deep desires of its peoples, including the French people.”

Le Pen concluded her response by saying the 2017 general election represented an important decision for France - whether to opt for “the pursuit of the globalist and Europeanist model”, or a “commitment to return [sovereignty] to the people”.

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Le Pen has seen a surge in popularity in recent months

Le Pen is expected to progress to the second round of voting, along with Les Républicains (The Republicans) presidential candidate François Fillon.

On the other hand, Hollande’s Socialist Party is not even expected to get past the first round of voting in April with the leftwing group yet to put forward an official candidate.